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Astronomers Without Borders collecting glasses for Asian and South American schools

Aly Lee, 5, checks out a partial eclipse of the sun from outside the Bright's Grove Library Aug. 21. Steeves and Rozema is collecting gently used pairs of eclipse glasses until Sept. 17 to donate to Astronomers Without Borders. Tyler Kula/Sarnia Observer/Postmedia Network

A few hundred of the tinted specs were in the community recently when the sky darkened during the partial solar eclipse Aug. 21.

Now property company Steeves and Rozema is collecting gently used pairs and donating them to schools in South America and Asia – via Astronomers Without Borders – for when eclipses cross those continents in 2019.

“We just thought what a great opportunity to reuse something that many of us who had them didn’t know what to do with them,” said Caryn Taylor, who’s leading the collection drive for the company.

They had 150 pairs for company officials to check out the spectacle last month, she said.

The Lambton County Library system also lent 150 pairs for the day.

The collection closes Sept. 17 and there are eight drop-off locations in Sarnia: